I Don’t Read Your Desk

Productivity.
A desk is like a garage â€” itâ€™s where you keep your tools. It helps if itâ€™s organized, but your car will run fine when it is not. But messy writing is a sign of messy thinking. Itâ€™s proof our ideas arenâ€™t under control. No one wants to be behind the wheel with someone who canâ€™t keep the car on the road.

The thing is it’s a whole lot easier to do clear focused thinking when we don’t see clutter all around us looking back. If we take a few minutes to straighten where we work, our thought come through more easily. Here’s a way to make work more motivating when you return Monday morning.

Friday’s Answer to a Motivated Monday

Finish your last work task early on Friday, so that you have time to complete this list. If you’re working late this week, do all you can to take a “last half hour” anyway. On Monday morning, you’ll be glad you did.

Put things done away.

Lay out things that still need attending to. Mark what needs to be done. Make a to-do list, if that’s your way.

Use the things you laid out to make a plan for next week. Decide what you will tackle first and what your three most important goals will be.

Order the Monday tasks by putting what you can get done fastest first. Do this for two reasons. You’ll quickly have a sense of accomplishment, and you’ll be able to pass on what you finished to someone else can take that piece to the next step.

Then consider the week closed, leave the work at the office, give your brain a break, and have a weekend. What a great way to remind yourself and everyone else that you can enjoy your job — head for the weekend with an office that looks like it could be in a magazine . . .

Whether you work in a building away from home or in your bedroom, it’s boost to your Monday to walk back into a space that’s ready to work in.

Don’t you think the way that we take care of ourselves shows in our work? Show your workspace some love. You’ll feel it back guaranteed.

New from Liz Strauss & GeniusShared Press

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